Two U.S. congressmen who represent parts of Lake and McHenry counties have filed articles of impeachment against the DHS secretary, saying she has brought a “reign of terror” with her immigration enforcement operations.
U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) have joined nearly 70 other members of Congress in co-sponsoring an impeachment resolution filed by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02).
The resolution was filed against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
Schakowsky represents Illinois’ 9th District, which is in parts of Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. Quigley represents Illinois’ 5th District, which is in parts of Lake and Cook counties.
“Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, and communities from north to south, east to west. She needs to be impeached for her actions,” Kelly said at a press conference introducing the articles of impeachment.
“Secretary Noem has called my impeachment effort ‘silly.’ I want to tell her right now: You have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences. I am watching you. The American people are watching you,” Kelly said.
“And most of all, we are not liking what we are seeing. If you believe impeachment is ‘silly,’ then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously,” she added.
The Constitution gives the U.S. House sole power of impeachment. Kelly says she has introduced three articles of impeachment.
The first article is for “obstruction of Congress” alleging Noem violated her constitutional oath and refused to comply with the law that prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from preventing a member of Congress from entering a DHS facility used to detain undocumented immigrants.
Kelly says she has tried to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview but was denied “despite following Secretary Noem’s unlawful seven-day notice.”
Other members of Congress were denied access to ICE facilities in Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Virginia and Washington.
The second article is for “violation of public trust” for allegedly repeatedly violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
Kelly said Noem has also broken due process by directing ICE to conduct warrantless arrests and use violence against “U.S. citizens and lawful individuals.”
The congresswoman said Noem’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago led to federal agents using excessive force and in some cases, injuring or killing residents.
“Federal agents used military-style tactics to raid an apartment building in South Shore, detaining U.S. citizens for hours without warrants or reason for arrest. These dangerous actions have continued in cities across the country, including in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed without justification,” Kelly said.
The third article is for “self-dealing” alleging that Noem has misused her position for personal gain while using $200 million in taxpayer dollars to fund an ad campaign for ICE recruitment.
“She bypassed the normal competitive bidding process to award a contract to a firm called Strategy Group. Strategy Group was formed just days before the award and is run by the husband of senior DHS official Tricia McClaughlin, a close friend of Secretary Noem,” Kelly said.
The impeachment resolution has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.